After years of watching his work as a puppeteer, Clash first met Henson in 1979.

“I got to do the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,” Clash recalled. “And then to actually meet Jim for the first time after the parade was over, of course was a dream come true. I always said ‘I’ll met him across a crowded room.’”

Four years later, Clash was hired for 10 episodes of Sesame Street. He joined the cast in 1985.

“It was a dream come true for me,” Clash said. “It was something that I am still pinching myself about. I’m 50 now, and I think I started working with him in my early 20s.”

Clash says Henson never acted like a boss; he was a teammate.

“Because he respected everybody that he worked with, everybody wanted to give him more than 100 percent,” Clash said. “Watching what he did and always wishing to be a part of it, and then being a part of it, and then the openness he gave to me to keep creating and show my talent.”

It was this freedom that inspired Clash to create the distinctive voice and laugh that became Elmo.

“Well, Jim was just a nice person,” Elmo said.

Clash’s work as Elmo earned him an Emmy in 1990—the same year Henson died.

“Elmo loves Jim Henson very much and thank you for everything,” Elmo said.

Clash hopes the book will help Henson’s legacy live on.

“It’s been a whirlwind for me,” Clash said. “Not only the fact of growing up and watching and wanting to be with Jim, but then meeting him and finding out what a really cool and wonderful guy he is, then him leaving us with this wonderful legacy, and I had gotten to know him enough to call him a friend of mine is something I will never forget.”

Jessica Kartalija joined the Eyewitness News team during the summer of 2006. She is a general assignment reporter, and anchors the 5 p.m. newscast daily with Mary Bubala and noon newscast with Linh Bui.
She came to Baltimore from the southwest,...